Bachelor Pad Island Makeover

So I have this friend of a friend who recently reclaimed his kitchen. He asked me to keep an eye out for an island so whenever I stopped into a thrift shop or GoodWill I looked but nothing caught my eye. Now, plenty of things found their way home with me but nothing that would work for him. Good old Craigslist and my go-to online garage sale sites turned up squat too. Sadly, I was *this* close to telling him to buy retail {gasp}.

You can imagine my giddy when I was on the way home from running the boy to school one day and caught something out of the corner of my eye. I slammed on my brakes cautiously turned the corner and pulled up in front of the neighbor’s house. Who am I kidding? I’m betting those folks still have skid marks in front of their house. I hopped out of the truck to get a better look.

This chick had great bones. She was solidly built and other than a few dings was in good shape so I loaded her up and took her home. I had no immediate plans but a free desk is a free desk. Being greedy generous, I posted a pic on my Facebook page thinking someone might spot me $20 for need a desk. I had no takers but I had an idea.

I sent the photo over to my pal and told him all the awesome things I could do to recreate it as an island. He was a good sport and entertained my nonsense but wasn’t a fan of the dark wood. Plus, he had his heart set on a butcherblock top and didn’t think I could do much this boring old desk. Sigh. So. close.

And so it sat in my garage all summer and well into the fall. Cleaning up after our neighborhood rummage sale, I pulled it out and grabbed some sandpaper. It didn’t take long to see some potential. As much as I hated the veneer top I loved its rounded edge. Since it was secured with screws it came off easily. I set it on the ground and placed the desk on top of it. Wait a minute…

I was stoked and broke out the primer.

The original desk’s height was 30″. Standard counter height is 36″. Even with a new top, I’d need to make up a 4″ difference. The obvious choice was to add feet. Surfing the ‘net I found a few retail options priced at $7 or more – each. Uh. Yeah. No. So I headed over to Menards and grabbed a hunk of 3″ x 3″ x 36″ hardwood for $12. I used a jigsaw to bevel the corners at 45 degrees. It felt a tad chunky so I manually rounded out the edges. The result wasn’t exactly the same as my inspiration but totally doable.

{Tip: It’s not a bad idea to bring your inspiration piece home to use as a sample. Just be sure to keep your receipt and take it back when you’re done. $7 can buy you a gallon of Oops paint yo!}

Ideally, my buddy wanted open shelving and a concealed garbage area. The measurements of the existing chair opening proved too narrow, so I performed minor lumber surgery where the drawers had been and found plans for a tilt-out trash can on a fellow blogger’s site. Since I was restricted by the desk’s original dimensions, I made slight modifications to the plan (read: I crossed my fingers & cut) but overall it was a very simple build.

The drawers weren’t the same size and after framing out the fronts, I opted to flip-flop them and cut off a bit of the overhang. I cut the shelf out of plywood then glued and screwed it to the existing supports. To play off the once-top-now-bottom’s rounded edge I nailed in some scrap shoe molding to the shelf (this did double duty to hide minor gaps).

Are you feeling overwhelmed yet? Don’t be. This stuff is easier than it looks. For the record, I don’t worry about being too precise in my measurements. Spackle and paint make a girl what she ain’t.

See? A flawless finish.

As you’re working it’s a good idea to frequently step back and give your piece a once over. A few times great ideas in my head didn’t look so hot in reality. Originally, I had grand plans to hand-fab the wood top out of 2″ x 6″ rosewood lumber. I placed the wood on the base and snapped a photo and sent it to my friend for a second opinion who was quick to point out that I had installed the hinges incorrectly.

Being a hobby woodworker, he wanted to know how I planned to square up and plane the hunks of wood for the top. Um…well….yeah, it didn’t take long before I realized that I didn’t have the proper tools (table saw, planer, wood clamps, etc.) to accomplish the task. Grrr.

So I did what any good DIYer would do – I turned to alcohol Google for advice. At 2:00 am, I stumbled upon a pinned photo of an old dresser turned kitchen island. So the next day I picked up a 30″ x 60″ edge glued slab and cut it down lengthwise; sanded it down and brushed on some wood conditioner. Then I trimmed out the edges with lattice and (3) stain and (4) seal applications later the top was done! Crisis and alcoholism averted again.

Lattice trim was cut, mitered and installed on the garbage door front and island side panels. Then all the holes were filled and the entire piece was sanded, primed and painted. And sanded and painted. And painted.

And then I decided I didn’t like the monotone all-over green color and took some designer liberties.

{Tip: Adding some white to your paint will maintain the tone but modify saturation resulting in a lighter shade. This is much easier than trying to coordinate color swatches at the store. Plus it’s quicker and cheaper and all the rage now thanks to the ombre effect.}

After the paint dried, the back (1/8″ mdf) went on along with support brackets ($1 thrift store shelf arms) and trim (1/4″ wood lattice) with glue and nails.

I was in such a rush to get this delivered, I completely forgot to take photos of the top install. (Assuming you’re still reading I’ll describe the process.) I placed the finished wood slab upside down and flipped the cabinet base on top. Using a nail to mark the existing holes in the frame I marked out where to pre-drill the wood (to prevent splitting). I reattached the original screws and flipped it back over to add my ReStore score hardware {$0.25 a piece!}.

I’m so glad I decided to pull designer rank because the lighter door fronts contrast the darker base perfectly. The hardware is modern and that tilt-out door is just sassy. Sassy I say.

Can you believe it’s even the same piece?? Let me save you the trouble of scrolling back up…

I know right? And he didn’t think it could be done…pshaw.

Thank you for making it all the way to the end of this post. I feel like you should win a prize or something.

I used stair rail baluster screws and a special drill bit that drills them into the wood of one piece (predrill first) and then you screw that in to the other piece (predrill also). Sometimes they are called metal dowels or metal dowel screws. They are perfect for attaching any two pieces of wood together where you can't/don't want a screw head showing or getting in the way.

It’s called edge glued wood and it comes in several sizes at your home improvement store. It’s already planed so it’s perfect for a table top. Just remember to sand and prestain (it’s pine) prior to staining.

WOW! This is really a diamond … I don't own the tools needed to do something like this, but it sure is a dream of mine to have a kitchen island that is portable. Your ingenuity is impressive. Keep up the great work. I'm going to facebook to see your page now. Thank you thank you thank you 🙂

I am soooo impressed! I thought I was clicking on just another makeover using paint. WOW! You really transformed that piece into a brand new animal. I love it! The top is so beautiful! Bravo!!! I am now following you via facebook, twitter and pinterest. Thank you for sharing this wonderful piece with us!

I tried making one of these once. Let's just say yours turned out much better! I love it! Would you come by and share at Transformed Tuesday? I know my readers would love to see. Party is going strong until Saturday. http://pjhdesignsoneofakind.blogspot.com/2012/12/… Hugs, Peggy

Thank you so much Emma! I love, love, love when fellow DIYB's respond. Do you think Angelina appreciates comments from fellow actors?? 🙂 (kidding) Still linking up to your 4-some. No clue why I keep getting sidetracked by your projects!!!! (curse of a creative mind!)